– On the next play, Jackson had terrific blocking on the right side and punched it in from 7 yards out.

– Just like that, the Rams lead 14-0 with 1:47 to go in the quarter.

– San Francisco starts again at its 20.

– Smith scrambled for 4 yards on first down and then hit TE Vernon Davis for a gain of 8.

– Another sack for Brockers pushed San Francisco back 7 and Gore gained 2 on second down to make it third and 15.

– There, Smith hit Crabtree for 14 and set up a huge fourth and short at the Rams 47.

– Smith sneaked it for 1 yard and a first down. Barely.

– He followed with a strike to Crabtree for 19 to the Rams’ 28.

– At the end of the first, the Rams lead 14-0.

Pregame Notes

– Greetings from Candlestick Park where the Rams and the Niners are preparing for this afternoon’s collision. If form holds with these NFC West Division games, this one should be a slobberknocker with both teams slugging it out in the trenches and on the ground.

– We can start the day with positive news for the Rams as they will indeed get both WR Danny Amendola and T Rodger Saffold back in the mix today as they come back from shoulder and knee injuries, respectively. Two key cogs who could make a big difference for the Rams.

– Remains to be seen whether Amendola will resume his punt return duties. It seems unlikely right away but we’ll see when game time arrives.

– Givens and Jenkins are inactive for violation of undisclosed team rules.

– With that duo out, there’s some opportunity there for young Rams such as Trumaine Johnson and Brian Quick to emerge. Johnson figures into the mix as the nickel corner and Quick could get some more opportunities in the passing game. That also means more work for the likes of Steve Smith and Austin Pettis.

7 Responses
to “Rams vs. 49ers: Running Blog”

I have both Jenkins and Givens on my fantasy roster. Sure wish I knew what happened. Or at least that they were going to sit this game. I take it though as long as we hold on and get this win. Maybe Jackson, Ammendola, the Rams defense, Long, and Laurinitous will pick up the slack (yah I got a slew of Rams on my team lol)

Valiant effort, saw a lot of really good things with this young rams team. We showed what we are capable of. And we showed how much we need to work on discipline. It was a hard fought game. And we went toe to toe with one of the best in the world. Lets get to work and see if we can make that tie matter for the division leader when the season ends.

And can we go ahead and give Danny Amendola the iron man heart award for showing what it means to give everything to your team and play with such a pure love for the game.

As a 40 year Rams fan, I’ve seen a lot of games where mistakes were made, but this one will sit in my mind forever. All the hard work & all the physicality were appreciated …. we have a great future with Fisher. But I can’t give these guys a pass. Basic common sense & the simplest execution of the game’s details would have put a “W” up against our arch rival. Lining up on the line wrong, getting the play off on time & fumbling kickoffs are unacceptable. Fisher should be blamed for this as much as the players especially on the delay of game penalty. And letting rookies handle returning kicks. I could sugar coat everything but that just allows for mistakes to continue to be made. This game was ours & we gave it away.